Ramsey County

February 18, 2008

Howdy!!!

I write this column with my whole body feeling a bit froze this morning.  I must admit though, even though we broke a record last night I thought Tuesday was much colder than this morning.  My pickup sure grumbled at me this morning and even after a short trip to town, the oil was still stiff.  Some of the training I have been and will be taking, this next year, teaches us how to learn different styles and techniques of teaching.  With that being said I played a game last night with Deb, mother-in-law (Mary) and Aunt Rose Mary that I had never played before.  The game was fun and took me a long period of time to figure out how we could take numbers from a run and move them to other areas as long as the whole set was used in one fashion or another.  I still think a good game of pinnacle is better.  But maybe there is hope, if I can learn this game, of teaching me other learning skills.  One thing is for sure, as I get older I find myself liking this cold weather even less. 

As I look over my years of farming and not farming I have learnt that I really do miss the cattle part of the Ag industry.  There were many days of below zero weather that made chores interesting but at the end of the day there was some “peace” of being with the cattle.  This past weekend my son Thomas, Melissa, Deb and myself attended a bull sale in Bismarck and of course the women went shopping but was great fun attending a sale and meeting old friends.  When the day ended, Tom found an outstanding bull (Dad’s help) to add to his cow herd.  I want to really bring forth from that sale or any other cattle sale is to watch cattle producers really wanting an animal but are afraid to purchase a bull of significance.  When the dust settles, good genetics add many dollars to a cow herd and in the real world that is what we are all about, more dollars in the checkbook.  If we can add another 50 pounds per calf that is another (about $50) per calf and I don’t know about you but on a 100 cows that is another $5000.  In Tom’s case he bought a good bull and can’t wait to see his next calf crop.

Tuesday the Ramsey County Crop Improvement association held its annual meeting at the Great American Inn.  We had Mike Hergert of the Red River Farm Network visit with us for over an hour and ended with a panel discussion on what ifs of marketing.  At the conclusion of the morning meeting we had lunch with the conversation still continuing about the market place.  It was a “Great” meeting.  With commodity prices like we have, we need to be looking very seriously at pricing some new crop production.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                              

Calendar!!!

                        March     4                   Ramsey County Shooting Sports (Archery)
                        March    17                  Private Pesticide, Starkweather 9-am
                        March    26                  Private Pesticide, Devils Lake 9-am
                        March    26                  Private Pesticide, Devils Lake 6- pm

524 4th Ave NE #5, 2nd Floor Ramsey County Courthouse
Devils Lake  ND  58301
701-662-7027
email - ramsey@ndsuext.nodak.edu

Return to Back Home Index
Return to Ramsey Extension Home Page